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Inside the Numbers
2007-02-13 10:22:01
The 2003-04 season for the Minnesota Timberwovles had them going 58-24, the best record in the league, and still gives us hope of winning a championship with Garnett.  So how far away are we?  In some sort of weird conspiracy there are no records of Latrell Spreewell ever being a basketball player on ESPN or NBA.com, so I had to include his stats seperate.2003-04 Regular Season StatisticsTimberwolves Leaders  NAMEGPGSMINPTSOFFDEFTO TASTSTLBLKTOA/TOPFTECHK. Garnett828239.424.23.010.913.95.0 1. 462.172.61.932.50.2S. Cassell818135.019.80.52.83.37.3 1.26 0.222.72.693.00.1W. Szczerbiak28022.210.20.92.33.11.2 0. 430.041.01.181.50.0T. Hudson29117.37.50.11.11.22.4 0.240.0 01.22.061.10.0M. Olowokandi432521.56.51.83.95.70.6 0. 371.581.30.443.20.0T. Hassell817428.05.00.82.33.21.6 0.440 .670.62.892.50.0M. Madsen721217.33.61.91.93.80.4 0.460. 250.70.602.40.0D. Martin16010.83.40.10.30.41.4 0.130.0 60.43.291.40.0K. McLeod33011.82.70.20.91.01.8&nbs...
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College Recruits Head South
2007-02-13 10:22:01
You have to be happy with Tim Brewster and his last minute efforts to recruit a top 50 class.  If the coach can correct that 113th ranked Defense the Gophers have a shot at winning 7-8 games next year.But one thing really caught my eye with the 2007 recruiting class nation wide.  Everyone is heading south.  Notre Dame, Michigan and the Illinois upset class are the only 3 cold weather schools in the top 18 ranked by ESPN.  Notre Dame and Michigan are rated #8 and #10.  Sure Butch Davis at North Carolina helped, but South Carolina and North Carolina in the top #11?  Has to be the weather.Imagine back a few years and you are a top High School football recruit.  You have scheduled visits to Michigan and North Carolina.  You visit Michigan and it's 10* degrees outside, the football field is covered in snow, and all the girls are bundled up in parkas.  Then you head to North Carolina the next week.  It's 60* degrees outside, the football...
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Twins Ballpark in 2010?
2007-02-13 10:22:01
2010 here we come.... or mabye not. In a move that was somewhat unexpected, Hennepin county announced it's concerns over whether they would be able to work with the owners of the proposed Rapid Park location.  Last year when the Legislature passed a bill that will fund the ballpark it was dependant on two things:1.  The ballpark would be in it's current location - The Rapid Park lot behind the Target Center.2.   The bill also stated that the county could not spend more than $90 million for accruing the land and to pay for public infrastructures (roads, sidewalks, etc).Currently the limited liability corporate group that owns that parcel of land wants several million dollars more than Hennepin County is allowed to pay.  Earlier this year a judge ruled that the land was work around $13.5 million dollars.  The owners of the land think that is well below market value.The Twin s and Hennepin County are now put in a tight situation.  They can either con...
More About: Ball , Wins

Bears fan loses Superbowl bet, has to change his name to Peyton Manning
2007-02-13 10:22:01
Check this story out http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story? id=2757758
More About: Change , Super , Bears , Name , Peyton Manning

Vikings hire defensive coordinator
2007-02-13 10:22:01
ESPN is reporting that the Vikings have hired Leslie Frazier to be their new defensive coordinator. Frazier has been a Special Assistant to the Head Coach / Defensive Backs coach for the Super Bowl champion Colts for five years. Hopefully he will carry that winning attitude with him here to Minnesota, and hopefully for us he will stay and not leave only to win a Super Bowl as a head coach with some other team like his old boss Tony Dungy (and maybe someday Mike Tomlin) and former offensive coordinator Brian Billick.ESPN story: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story? id=2758757Check out his bio at: http://mirror.colts.com/sub.cfm?page=coac hbio&coach_id=29
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Gophers idle this weekend
2007-02-13 10:22:01
The U of M men's hockey team is off this weekend, but not to worry folks, they will be back in action Feb. 16-17 when they take on Colorado College in Colorado Springs. The Gopher s are currently in first place in the WCHA standings with a 15- 4- 3 record (23- 5- 3 overall) and a total of 33 points. They have a comfortable lead ahead of St. Cloud State (11- 5- 4, 17- 5- 4) and Denver (12- 8- 2, 20-10- 2) who are tied for second with 26 points each and CC (12- 7- 1, 16-10- 2) whose has 25 points.After this weekend there will only be three weeks of regular season left, so many teams will be fighting for those final spots to make it into the WCHA Final Five and maybe onto the Frozen Four. The Gophers will try and hold off SCSU and Denver to capture another conference championship and MacNaughton Cup for the second consecutive year. The three remaining weeks of the season might pose a challenge for the Gophers. CC always plays tough at home, SCSU will be a chall...
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Timberwolves trounce Golden State
2007-02-13 10:22:01
In a game that was far less entertaining than the Extreme Team, the Timberwolves easily handled the Gold en Stat e Warriors tonight at the Target Center.  The T-Wolves were led (as usual) by the Ticket.  He secured his 17th career triple-double (17/15/10) early in the third quarter.  After a high scoring first quarter the Wolves led 32 -27.  It wasn’t until the second quarter when the Wolves caught fire (and played a little D).  They outscored the Warriors 31-18 while securing a 18 point lead going into the break. Mid way through the third, I’ll be honest….  I switched over to a rousing episode of “Beauty and the Geek”.  After watching some of the hottest women in the world and guys who show up for dates with a t-shirt sporting π, I decided to flip back to the game.A few interesting game notes:•    In the first half, Minnesota had 21 assists on 24 field goals.  •    Once a...
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"Calm Down"
2007-02-06 04:20:02
All four of the final NFL teams had two quality running backs.  Patriots-Maroney and Dillon Saints- Bush and Deuce Bears- Benson and Jones Colts- Rhodes and Addai So maybe drafting A.P. wouldn't be that bad of an idea.  I'm in the camp to trade down but if we do draft Peterson, the Tice sound bite might be a popular one.
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Matt Garza - MLB Rookie?
2007-02-06 04:20:02
I have to thank Keith Law (Scouts, Inc/ESPN) for tipping me to this one, but it left me digging for more.  I pulled up Matt Garza's line from last year and it reads like this:Games = 10   IP = 50.0    H=62    R=33    ER=32    W=3     L=6     ERA=5.76A quick search on MLB.com and I found this:Determining rookie status: A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).And there in all that legal mumble jumble rules language lies one very important word, "exceeded".  The fact that Garza only went 2.2 innings in his last outing, a loss to the White Sox, l...
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Good Gosh Almighty
2007-02-06 04:20:02
Without a doubt one of the craziest things I've ever seen.  Listening to the commentary is hilarious.  You have to watch the entire thing because the ending will leave you speechless.  The video is a recap of the final, frantic minutes of the ESPY winning, 1994 football game between Plano East and John Tyler high schools.Bingo, Bango, Bongo. Plano East was down 41-17 with 2:42 to play in the State Championship Game.  
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Ricky in his Cavalier days.
2007-02-06 04:20:02
 Mascosts and clowns can freak kids out. DENVER - DECEMBER 2: Rick y Davis #31 of the Cleveland Cavaliers wards off Denver Nuggets mascot Rocky as he chases down a scared kid who was part of a timeout routine with the mascot December 2, 2003 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) 
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Tim Brewster making his mark
2007-02-06 04:20:02
Tim Brew ster is the reason that my interest in University of Minnesota football is at an all-time high... above zero.  Not only was Tim able to recruit his son away from Illinois, but he got his son's buddy Kyle Theret to commit as well.  More impressive than landing those two, however, is the fact that Mr. Brewster just got a verbal commitment from Travaris Cadet, who I have never heard of, but apparently he is a dual-threat QB with the athleticism to play other positions.  The impressive part about this recruit is that he is not from Minneaplis North or St. Paul West, he is from Miami freakin' Florida and he had offers from Tennessee ,VaTech, and North Carolina.  This marks the first time I have ever thought about Gopher Football in February.  Check out the article from the Trib'.  http://www.startribune.com/512/story/9807 49.html
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We Need To Trade KG..
2007-02-05 10:18:01
Couldn't agree less!  I don't see the benefit of trading Garnett.  Let's look at this in a different way for a minute.  KG will likely play at a Scottie Pippen level for about 4 more years, until his current contract is up.  In four years Randy Foye will be in his 5th year, Rashad McCants will be in his 6th year, Ricky Davis will still only be 30.  In two or three years, if we keep the current nucleus in tact, we have a great chance of winning a championship.  If we trade Garnett for draft picks we don't even know if those picks will pan out; what if we end up trading KG to the Bulls for Ndudi Ebi, Tyus Edney, Cherokee Parks and an expiring contract??  Furthermore, the best part about keeping KG until his contract expires is that the following year we will be $23 million below the cap and will be able to sign whomever is the BEST available free agent.  The salary cap space created by a Garnett retirement will rebuild the team on its o...
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Jim Peterson is the greatest..
2007-02-05 10:18:01
Jim Pete rson is the greatest basketball analyst in the history of Timberwolf basketball.  His insights are astute and his basketball knowledge is second to none.  The ultimate TV commentary combo would be, without a doubt, Jim Peter son teamed with Kevin Harlan.  Those two together would keep even the most casual of NBA fans interested in the game, no matter how badly the 'wolves were getting beat by New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at the time...  Justin's boy Chris Paul is the truth, for sure.  Can't wait to see how good he'll be in 4 years. 
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Coaching Carousel...
2007-02-05 10:18:01
I would like to think that history would not repeat itself, but once again it has.  A number of years ago Red McCombs and the Vikings' brain trust had an important decision:  Promote Brian Billick to head coach or stick with Denny Green.  "We" chose the latter and Billick went on to coach the Ravens to the Lombardi Trophy. Soon after we had the choice between promoting Tony Dungy to head coach or sticking with Denny Green; once again we chose the "high road."  Unfortunitely the high road meant hollow and meaningless regular season records and one of the greatest chokes in playoff history.  Last night Tony Dungy and the Colts sealed the fate of the Minnesota Vikings for the next decade or so.  Please note that it was predicted here first; in the next 10 years, my fellow Vikings fans  and I will suffer from having to watch Tony Dungy, Brian Billick AND Mike Tomlin win at least one more Superbowl...
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Gabby lifts the Wild on the road.
2007-02-04 22:17:01
Marian Gaborik scored his 14th goal early in the 2nd period against Phoenix to give the Wild a 1-0 win.  Since Gaborik's return the Wild are now 8-3-2.  It will be interesting to see if they can keep winning and make a run at a decent playoff spot.The Wild head to Dallas Tuesday to take on Stars.  Are the Stars still a big rival?
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She must know Strahan's Ex-Wife
2007-02-04 22:17:01
Spree better start selling some more spinners.Latrell Sprewell named in $200 million NYC palimony suit
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How Much Longer?
2007-02-03 10:16:01
  The Wolves dropped another game tonight at Oklahoma City.  How much longer will Kevin put up with the losing?  Do we rebuild around him again or do we start over and trade him?  I don't think he'll want to wait around for another 2-3 years to make a run again.With the Suns, Spurs and Mavericks around the West won't be getting easier anytime soon.One can only image what a Garnett/Iverson or Garnett/Ray Allen duo would do.  Kevin needs the guy who can put up 30 pts/night on a consistent basis.  Ricky Davis isn't exactly that guy, although he can have good nights.I was at the Wolves-Jazz game a couple weeks back and watched in awe as Davis went off.  He can take over games...when he's hot.  But you need more than the 30 pts every 4th game.I just don't know how much longer Kevin can wait around for that superstar combo chemistry like what we had in 3 yrs ago. mn+wolves kevin+garnett timberwolves
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The Gold Seat is up and running.
2007-02-03 10:16:01
I'm pleased to announce The Gold Seat blog is now part of MN sports lore.It's been seven years in the making but it's finally here.  I hope now we can all rant and rave about the things that we really care about.  What started as a HR to send the world series to Game 7 in 1991 is now the foundation and inspiration for a whole new generation of sports insights.Although there were no championships in 2006, 2007 is a new year.  And hey Chicago Sox fans (that includes you AJ), at least we made the playoffs.I hope this is the first post of many, many more to come.  Enjoy. 
More About: Running , The Go , The G

Once Again Stuck With Pick #7
2007-02-03 10:16:01
Is there anything more frustrating than being forced to make a reach with pick 7?  The problem with this pick is that it does the Vikings no good.  If we're looking to grab a WR with the pick, (what are we the Lions?) and a player like Johnson from GT isn't available, then we've given up the value of the 7th pick.  The WR's available could be had in the 10-20 range, they aren't 7th overall type players.I know our fellow co-author Brad is all about the Sooner RB, but we just gave Chester some cash.It may not be flashy like taking a Jarrett, but taking one of the three DE available might be the best choice.  The defense is solid.  I say draft a pass rusher, sign a free agent pass rusher and sign a free agent WR.  That way you know what you're getting at the flanker position.  Not just some really fast guy who everyone forgot to check if he could even catch.  If that's what we're going for, go start scouting the Santa Monica Track Club.It...
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Highlight of the Week?
2007-02-03 10:16:01
The past week has been quite a roller-coaster of emotion for the Timberwolves; and their fans.  At times we looked like the next coming of "Larry the Legend" and the Celtics or "Magic" and the Lakers; at other times, however, my favorite team looked more like... well... the timberwolves I have been watching for the last 15 years.  Last Saturday night marked a momentus occasion--the Timberwolves won on the road and in the second game of a back-to-back!  To make things even more sweet, the victory came against Sammy C (a.k.a. the love we lost) and the Clips.  They then carried the emotion of that once-in-a-blue-moon accomplishment by buring the best team in the league by 9 points at home on Monday.  Nobody beats the Suns... nobody!  As I am writing this the Suns are wrapping up a 15 point win against the immortal San Antonio Spurs.Unfortunitely that is not where the story ends.  Did I mention that the "momentus...
More About: Week , Light , High , Highlight

We Have The MVP for 1 More Year
2007-02-03 10:16:01
I'll take it.  One more year with the M&M boys.Morneau agrees to $4.5 million deal, avoids arbitrationI love the Morneau quote from the following story out of NY Times:REYES APPEARS IN COMMERCIAL At 8:45 a.m. yesterday, Mets shortstop José Reyes sat shivering on a sidewalk in Greenwich Village. Next to him was Twins starting pitcher Johan Santana, who was grilling a hamburger. It was about 20 degrees outside, and the wind chill made it seem like the low teens.So what were Reyes and Santana doing there? Along with five other players — Minnesota’s Justin Morneau, Detroit’s Justin Verlander, Boston’s Jonathan Papelbon, St. Louis’s David Eckstein and the Yankees’ Robinson Canó — they were filming a commercial for new baseball caps under the direction of Spike Lee.The hats, manufactured by New Era, are designed to absorb sweat more efficiently, and they have a new black underside to the bill intended to reduce glare. Over and ove...
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